The calf was reportedly born in Yellowstone National Park on Tuesday, June 4
A rare white buffalo reportedly born in Yellowstone National Park fulfills a Lakota prophecy predicting better times ahead and a need to take better care of the Earth.
The extremely rare buffalo calf — also called a bison — was born on Tuesday, June 4 in the north-eastern corner of the park and captured by photographer Erin Braaten, who was visiting the park and saw the calf moments after its birth. Park officials had not yet seen the calf in person at the time of the Associated Press report.
They could not quantify how rare the birth of a white calf is but didn’t have any records of one ever being born in the park before.
The young animal is deemed sacred by many Native American tribes and is sometimes called a “spirit bison” or “ghost bison,” per KTVQ.
Per the Lakota Tribe’s legend as reported by the AP, 2,2000 years ago when food was running out in the area and times were bad, a White Buffalo Calf Woman appeared to a tribe member, presenting them with a bowl pipe and a bundle.
She also taught the person how to pray and said the pipe could be used to bring food to the area.
When she left, she turned into a white buffalo calf.
“And some day when the times are hard again,” Arvol Looking Horse, the spiritual leader of the Lakota, told the AP, “I shall return and stand upon the earth as a white buffalo calf, black nose, black eyes, black hooves.”
Per photographs Braaten posted to Facebook, the calf born on June 4 appears to have those exact markings.
“The birth of this calf is both a blessing and warning. We must do more,” Looking Horse told the AP. He said that while it means prosperity is ahead, it’s also a warning to take better care of the earth.
“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” Braaten told KTVQ. “It was so surreal. I just knew it was something special and one of the coolest things I’ve ever photographed.”
Per the AP, in 2023 severe weather drove many Yellowstone buffalo that had made the park home to lower elevations, adding to the rarity of the calf’s birth.
